I know, this is the third quali in a row where the times have not consistently appeared on the top left of the screen. It really kills the excitement for me and i’m sure many others trying to figure out who is where. Brundle even mentioned it this time, so surely something needs to be done.

It probably did help here, I believe them when they say they were never going to run the holy floor (holey floor) this weekend, need more top speed and less drag here. It might be different when we get back to fast long corner circuits (but maybe not).

Apparently it had nothing to do with Massa. His frustration was directed at the team who miscalculated his final run in Q3. He was on a 2 laps run and was supposed to attack on the second one, which he didn’t catch for one reason or another…

he barely drove a few laps over the weekend and this does def hinder an optional build up for for the Qualy….but actually.. in Q3 he had one stint with the harder compound….and did not even came back for a second run..he has 2 completely new set of super-soft tyres, while Hamilton for example has none…. plus Button starts on the harder compound..so maybe we are going to see a different tyre strategy ..

nobody said that,,,,, but they had to choose a different approach…. fact is Button did not get in enough milage through-out the weekend…… both his first and second practice were overshadowed by technical difficulties that were not his fault….I also did not bash Hamilton´s performance in any way, because he put up a good one today…don´t try to tro**… especially if there is no reason for it…

No big surprises. Well done Vettel but I would still credit Hamilton and Alonso with the best chances for a win here. Button on plan-B should be fun to watch as well…

Shame for Michael, Kimi…

Expected the Saubers to be a bit quicker, as for Williams, I really feel bad for them. So easy to read the disappointment on the crew’s faces. It’s clear that the team knows the car can deliver some results. The drivers just seem to be unable to stand up and constantly capitalize on that advantage. Two shunts, mistakes after mistakes, barely in front of the Caterhams and the weekend is still far from over…

Good to see HRT progressing. I really hope they find some stability with their new factory and have a better start to 2013.

+1 but I feel there’s the false illusion of progress here at Montreal as far as HRT goes. It’s all in their top speed and the new rear wing. This setup works here, at Montreal, in the hands of De La Rosa who has loads of experience with this track layout. I doubt it will work anywhere else. They just unlocked a small secret for this track that gave them an advantage over Virgin / Marussia last year and it probably will this year as well. Things will not be the same in Valencia, I’m afraid.

But it doesn’t need to work in Valencia.
Those teams aren’t running for consistently good results. They just need that one good result, which just like last year, and the year before again will nail Marussia to the bottom of the championship.

But this isn’t necessarily sign of any sort of progress as @matt90 said above. That was my point. It’s just about a track where one of the bottom-field teams puts on a close-to-average performance, for which they found the aerodynamic recipe. HRT has Montreal, Marussia are yet to find theirs.

Plus, I have no doubt whatsoever that Marussia will, once again be the backmarkers. It just seems to go from bad to worse for them. No finances, no large scale developments, no KERS, no major updates, still on those god-forsaken Cosworth engines, no prospects for the future. The only decent this they have is Glock and they managed to alienate him, make him lose his confidence and in turn patience…

Unlike them, HRT is at least trying to go somewhere higher up the ranks…

Bit disappointed that Hamilton abandoned his final lap but nevermind! Not a bad session, not much in the way of surprises, just Vergne getting stuck behind two Caterhams and Maldonado gifting Button 10th when he looked set to eliminate him.

Its the same they did in Monza last year. Nevermind the top speed, because it means they will have excellent acceleration, especially on high fuel loads in the start of the race.
Remember in Monza where Alonso was in front of Vettel and had a higher top speed in qualifying, yet Vettel had the legs on him both during acceleration out of the corners, and down the main straight.

Someone should tell him to put the finger in the… -)
I really hate it too, it´s not natural the way he shows it and it seems that he has a constant need of raising that damn finger!!!
But worst than that are the girly screams when he gets pole or wins the race, it´s like Hamilton said, it just make you want to change the channel or switch the TV off.
Though a hell of a driver.

Fantastic pole lap from Seb. Hamilton and Alonso doing their usual maximum while I was disappointed with the pace of the Mercedes cars. I’m starting to think Nico might not be a great qualifier. Yes, he got pole in China but IIRC he bottled his chance at pole in Malaysia and Australia. He can do ok, and I’m not saying he’s a disaster but he’s not a one-lap specialist, a weakness that may hurt him as the season goes on.

And Kimi’s comeback may not end up being the triumph it’s supposed to be if Grosjean keeps up this kind of form!